Francis Hillman "Scrapper" Blackwell (February 21, 1903 – October 7, 1962) was an American blues guitarist and singer, best known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was an acoustic single-note picker in the Chicago blues and Piedmont blues styles. Some critics have noted that he veered towards jazz.
Blackwell was born in Syracuse, South Carolina, one of sixteen children of Payton and Elizabeth Blackwell. He identified as being of Cherokee descent.. He grew up in and spent most of his life in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he first relocated to at the age of three. He was given the nickname "Scrapper" by his grandmother, because of his fiery nature. His father played the fiddle, but Blackwell was a self-taught guitarist, building his first guitar out of a cigar box, wood and wire. He also learned to play the piano, occasionally performing professionally.
By his teens, Blackwell was a part-time musician, travelling as far as Chicago. He was known for being withdrawn and hard to work with, but he established a rapport with the pianist Leroy Carr, whom he met in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s, and they had a productive working relationship.
Carr convinced Blackwell to record with him for Vocalion Records in 1928; the result was "How Long, How Long Blues", the biggest blues hit of that year. Blackwell also made solo recordings for Vocalion, including "Kokomo Blues", which was transformed into "Old Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold and later reworked as "Sweet Home Chicago" by Robert Johnson. Blackwell and Carr toured throughout the American Midwest and South between 1928 and 1935 as stars of the blues circuit, recording over 100 sides. "Prison Bound Blues" (1928), "Mean Mistreater Mama" (1934), and "Blues Before Sunrise" (1934) were popular tracks.
Blackwell made several solo excursions. A 1931 visit to Richmond, Indiana, to record at Gennett studios is noteworthy. Blackwell was dissatisfied with the lack of credit given his contributions with Carr; the situation was remedied by Vocalion's Mayo Williams after his 1931 breakaway: in all future recordings, Blackwell and Carr received equal songwriting credits and equal status in recording contracts. Blackwell's last recording session with Carr was in February 1935, for Bluebird Records. The session ended bitterly, as both musicians left the studio mid-session and on bad terms, stemming from payment disputes.
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| Blackwell with Brooks Berry |
Two months later Blackwell received a phone call informing him of Carr's death due to heavy drinking and nephritis. Blackwell was devastated and soon recorded a tribute to his musical partner of seven years ("My Old Pal Blues"). After the death of Carr, Blackwell did a few recordings with piano player Dot Rice, without much success; the song "No Good Woman Blues" shows Blackwell as the singer. A short time later Blackwell retired from the music industry, choosing the anonymity of a job in an asphalt factory.
The first great blues revival of the late 1950s gradually coaxed him back into performing. He was recorded by Colin C. Pomroy in June 1958. Soon afterwards he was recorded by Duncan P. Schiedt for Doug Dobell's 77 Records. Blackwell was then recorded in 1961, in Indianapolis, by the young Art Rosenbaum for the Prestige/Bluesville Records label. It was released in 1962 and Blackwell was ready to resume his blues career but had little time to enjoy its success. On October 7th, 1962, Blackwell was shot and killed in an alleyway near his house. There had evidentially been a fight with a neighbour, probably encouraged by the moonshine the two men were drinking. Blackwell’s neighbour was sentenced to ten years in prison, but was granted parole and released in 1964. Blackwells death came just as a new generation of blues and folk performers began to recognize his accomplishments. He is buried in New Crown Cemetery, in Indianapolis.
There is no doubt that Scrapper Blackwell was one of the most important guitar players of the '20s and early '30s, with a clean, dazzlingly articulate style that anticipated the kind of prominent solo work that would emerge in Chicago as electric blues in the '40s and '50s, in the persons of Robert Nighthawk and the young Muddy Waters. His "string-snapping" solos transcend musical genres and defy the limitations of his period. Although Blackwell's recordings were done entirely on acoustic guitar, the playing on virtually every extant track is -- and this is no joke -- electrifying in its clarity and intensity. Along with Tampa Red (who also had some respect in jazz circles, and who was a more derivative figure, especially as a singer), Blackwell was one of a handful of pre-war blues guitarists whose work should be known by every kid who thinks it all started with Chuck Berry or even Muddy Waters.
Among his fans was Bob Dylan, who observed, "There is a strong line in all our music that can be traced back directly to Scrapper Blackwell. He was a truly great musician who did deserve more than was ever given him".
(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & Document Records)